July 12, 2013|By DAVID OWENS, dowens@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

VERNON — An optometrist who once practiced in Willimantic is scheduled to begin a one-year prison sentence next week for stealing cash, credit cards and driver's license from some of her patients as she dilated their pupils and provided other treatment.

Kristie Katkavich, 38, who has addresses in Stafford and Massachusetts, still has a Connecticut license to practice optometry, although it has been inactive recently. She will not be allowed to reactivate that license during her probation after her release from prison, according to records on file at Superior Court in Rockville.

Katkavich pleaded guilty last month to three counts of third-degree identify theft, six counts of sixth-degree larceny and one count each of second-degree forgery and obtaining a prescription drug by fraud.

Judge Elliot N. Solomon sentenced Katkavich to one year in prison and three years of probation. Solomon allowed Katkavich to remain free until July 19 to arrange care for 3-year-old son, who is being evaluated for severe autism, said her lawyer, Brian Woolf of East Hartford.

During the summer of 2010, some female patients at Eastern Eye Center in Willimantic began contacting the office shortly after their visits to ask if they had left behind a wallet or credit card, according to arrest warrants for Katkavich's arrest. The office staff began keeping track of the calls, and noticed that all the callers were Katkavich's patients, the warrants say.

Willimantic police got involved in October 2010 after a patient reported a stolen credit card. The woman said she lost her wallet at her optometrist's office. Whoever stole the card, the woman learned, had made charges totaling $451.75 at Big Y in Stafford, TJ Maxx in Mansfield, CVS in Vernon, Walgreens in Vernon and a Redbox machine, the warrants say.

Police obtained surveillance photos from the TJ Maxx and showed them to the victim, who identified the person as her optometrist, Katkavich, according to the warrants. The woman's wallet had been snatched while Katkavich dilated the woman's pupils, the warrants say.

Willimantic and state police compared notes and realized that each had complaints of credit card thefts from people who were Katkavich's patients, the warrants say. They went to Eastern Eye Car, learned there were more people who reported losing their wallets or credit cards during appointments, then showed the business owner the photos of Katkavich using the stolen credit card at TJ Maxx, the warrants say. She was immediately fired.

Prosecutor Charles Johnson said police were able to identify 12 women who were Katkavich's patients and who lost items during office visits with her. Katkavich initially faced 79 charges, but the cases were consolidated in Rockville Superior Court because several of the theft and fraud cases occurred in Tolland County.

"All of the initial thefts occurred while she was actually treating patients," Johnson said Friday. "She would then use the credit card or other items she had stolen from patients to go commit further crimes."

The cost to her victims went far beyond inconvenience, Johnson said. Because of the identity theft, one victim had a house sale delayed because of financial issues related to the theft, had a professional license called into question and had police call on her while she tried to fill prescriptions at pharmacies.

"It was just an absolute nightmare for that one victim in particular," Johnson said.

Woolf, at Katkavich's sentencing, told the judge that some of her problems were caused by a doctor who prescribed strong pain medications. Katkavich was directed to go to the physician, Woolf said, by the state Department of Children and Families. He had sought for Katkavich a special form of probation for people with mental health issues, but it was denied.

"I honestly believe … what she did was a result of the medications she was taking," Woolf said.

That said, he added that she accepted responsibility for her conduct and was humiliated by what she did and how it affected her patients.

Johnson said drug use explained some of Katkavich's conduct, but not all of it. "There was more going on," he said.